This application relates to a method and an apparatus for removing select material from an associated waterway. More particularly, this disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for removing non-indigenous species of macro invertebrates and fish eggs from a waterway.
The owner of the present disclosure also commonly owns U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,008 which is directed to an apparatus for directing pressurized water into a substrate to dislodge small sediment and gravel particles from interstitial spaces within larger cobble and gravel of a stream bed. The entire disclosure of the commonly-owned patent is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Studies have shown that select fish species introduced either purposefully or inadvertently into certain streams and lakes have become increasingly problematic because these non-indigenous species prey upon and potentially compete with native and sport fish. Known methods to control or reduce these invasive species include harvesting the selected species, commercial scale netting, disrupting spawning, and stocking the waterway with sterile fish (see FISHERIES, vol. 34, no. 9, September 2009, “Western Lake Trout Woes”). Such efforts to control the invasive, non-indigenous species are expensive, and only partially successful. Thus, a need exists for an alternative method and apparatus for addressing this problem that is effective, relatively inexpensive, and does not adversely impact other native fish species or the associated waterway.